[rahuldagli]

How does an ideal graph looks? Does graphs also include the signature of their brand?

 

[BotByte]

It rates to the specific traits of the cans
 
But then when you add your source traits, DAC, amp, EQ source material and all that; it all comes up with a sound
 
Take Grado
 
Sounds has nice highs, good mids, low lows, forward and very clear with lots of separation
 
That sound will be effected by everything I stated before. So in the end my Grado sound balanced rather then bass light.
 
 
But graphs actually tell you IF the headphone can perform at that frequency. So if I pushed the bass up in my EQ for a grado, the bass would distort. But if I do the same for my V6, the bass would just be more defined.

 

[MalVeauX]

Heya,
 
Nope.
 
An ideal graph? Depends on what your ideal headphone is. An ideal graph for a neutral headphone is completely flat.
 
All the graph can do is give you an idea of it's extension, how colored it probably is, and whether or not it's going to be neutral or not. It's also useful for knowing how to equalize it to make it neutral.
 
Don't worry with graphs. They are very misleading on a lot of headphones. Listen to them. The graph doesn't give you the whole picture. It just gives you what the drivers are able to do based on that measurement. Isolation, construction, ear pad tap, etc, all alters that sound. Something that looks like it can do big bass sounds anemic. Something that looks normal sounds incredibly bassy. Graphs don't tell you this info, in fact, they will make you think one thing and you'll hear another. It's merely a tool to get an idea of what it might do. That's all.
 
Very best,

 

[maverickronin]

The proper way to use graphs is to first listen to a bunch of headphones and then compare your subjective impressions to the objective data appears on the graphs.  After you do that you can get a decent idea about what a headphone will sound like from the graph and you'll be able to figure out if its close enough to your tastes to hunt down a pair for a listen.
 
Graphs don't tell you everything and its important to remember that if you're new to this the graphs won't tell you anything in isolation.  You need to build up a mental database of correlations between what you like or don't like and what shows up on the graphs.

 

[codeninja]

This reminds me of photographers hate toward over-contrasted-over-sharpen images.  Everyone states that they like natural look and hate sharpen contrasy images.  However, those same people often pick images that are contrasy and sharpen as what they prefer if there is no specification given.
 
Many here claim they prefer flat frequency response, but they will be surprised to see the reality.

 

[kiteki]

Very good point codeninja!
 
 
The OP seems to be under the impression the HD800 is the best headphone in the world, well AFAIK it's not the best headphone for delivering a sharp and contrasty picture, or in audio terms, a lively and musical sound.

 

[khaos974]

This reminds me of photographers hate toward over-contrasted-over-sharpen images.  Everyone states that they like natural look and hate sharpen contrasy images.  However, those same people often pick images that are contrasy and sharpen as what they prefer if there is no specification given.
 
Many here claim they prefer flat frequency response, but they will be surprised to see the reality.

That's a bad analogy IMHO, I dislike over contrasted and over sharpened images because I can see what the artifacts of the oversharpening and what the setting the contrast at high level does to textures. But if I were to go manually, I would possibly get more contrast in the image and it pould possibly be even sharper than the one that was called over-sharpen-over-contrast; however, I would know how to sharpen and add contrast to a picture.

Your run the mill over-contrasted-over-sharpen images is like giving an audio mix to a software, loading a preset and presenting this as a finished product, in comparison the image which had post production done by a (good) photographer is like giving an audio mix to a mastering engineer and have them do their work.

That said regarding frequency response curves, I'm going along with what maverickronin said, ie listen to headphones, correlate those listening impressions to frequency curves and then you'll get a semi accurate idea of what a pair of headphones sounds like TO YOU by looking at the FR.

 

[codeninja]

I was rather pointing out the typical double standards in us where you want natural sound/images while still craving for certain pop/emphasis/accent in the same contents.

 

[kiteki]

btw the answer to the OP is:
 
 
"NO"

 

[maverickronin]

Actually the answer is "Yes, but only if you've got some practice."
 
Another thing to keep in mind is that different people use different equipment to produce those graphs so the graphs from two different websites aren't always directly comparable.

 

[kiteki]

No, it's a no.
 
For example the FR graph of the Sony EX700 and Sony EX600/800/1000 are very close, and there's nothing in the latter graphs that indicate an improved sound quality, so the improvement in sound quality was not measured by the graphs.
 
Actually when the EX1000 first came out people were saying "omg the FR graph looks worse than the EX700, I'm skipping this one." and now a year later, dozens of head-fiers are calling it the best IEM ever made.

 

[maverickronin]

You know there's a lot more to measure besides just the FR right?
 
Maybe I should have been a little clearer but I'm talking about comparing headphones based on a suite of measurements like those provided at Headroom or Innerfidelity.

 

[kiteki]

The more measurements the better, but from my experience FR isn't enough, I do check them out though and play with an equalizer to see what's up.

 

[svyr]

The proper way to use graphs is to first listen to a bunch of headphones and then compare your subjective impressions to the objective data appears on the graphs.  After you do that you can get a decent idea about what a headphone will sound like from the graph and you'll be able to figure out if its close enough to your tastes to hunt down a pair for a listen.
 
Graphs don't tell you everything and its important to remember that if you're new to this the graphs won't tell you anything in isolation.  You need to build up a mental database of correlations between what you like or don't like and what shows up on the graphs.

+1

 

[drez]

Quote:

No, it's a no.
 
For example the FR graph of the Sony EX700 and Sony EX600/800/1000 are very close, and there's nothing in the latter graphs that indicate an improved sound quality, so the improvement in sound quality was not measured by the graphs.
 
Actually when the EX1000 first came out people were saying "omg the FR graph looks worse than the EX700, I'm skipping this one." and now a year later, dozens of head-fiers are calling it the best IEM ever made.

Dozens of head-fi'ers are also selling the best headphone ever in FS section